Concert review: Rachael Yamagata at The Mod Club, Toronto

“This is how an angel cries” (Awolnation – “Sail”) are lyrics that fittingly describe Rachael Yamagata and her performance at the Mod Club on Saturday night. Rachael’s strength lies with her moving, poetic lyrics and her smoky-voiced delivery. It helps that she’s got a great sense of humour – reminding the audience that she will be playing a mix of new songs, old songs; all of them depressing.

Like many gifted singer-songwriters, Rachael Yamagata is at ease on stage and seems to draw her audience in with little anecdotes between songs. Letting us in to her world – allowing us a snippet of what inspires her song writing – a definite treat. The intimacy of the Mod Club allows the audience a really up close and intense experience. The acoustics were great as were all of her backing musicians. Her accompaniment included cello, violin, a couple of guitars and percussion.

Having recently become a fully independent artist, without a record company, Rachael has become very prolific with her releases. A full-length and a couple of EPs in just over a year, means that touring in support of the albums is the best way to showcase the new material. It helps that she’s got the pipes and the talent to pull off a great show – albeit a little too short for my taste at just over an hour. The stand out songs for the night were “Elephants” and “Worn Me Down;” with a little bit of audience participation thrown in for good measure. Rachael Yamagata has great musical and performing chops and I came away from the experience inspired, and convinced that I had to expand my writing into the realm of poetry. Really, her music does that to you.